Faculty Team

Dr Havilah Dharamraj entered SAIACS as an MA student in 1999, on the completion of which she went on to doctoral studies as a faculty trainee. She returned in 2006 to full-time employment as faculty. She became Head of the Department of Old Testament in 2008 and also served as an Academic Dean from 2012 to 2019. She currently serves as a HoD of Biblical Studies….

Her area of specialization is Old Testament narrative, from which springs her interest to help students recover the art of storytelling as a tool for ministry. She works with reception-centred intertextuality (reading biblical texts side by side) and comparative literature (reading biblical texts alongside on-Christian sacred texts). Long years of teaching have led to a keen interest in innovative, learner-centred pedagogy and assessment strategies.

Dr Havilah taught high school chemistry for about a decade before she commenced her theological education. She preaches and teaches on invitation both within and outside India, including at the Keswick Convention in Keswick, UK. She has been on the Committee for Bible Translation, NIV, and is currently on the committee of another English translation. She writes for academia, for the training of Christian laypersons and those in ministry, and for popular Christian publications.

Dr Havilah is currently working on two projects, a South Asia Study Bible, and a comparative reading of the Song of Songs with the twelfth-century Hindu sacred text, Gita Govinda. Forthcoming in 2019 is Ruth in the Asia Bible Commentary Series, which is published by the Asia Theological Association, Manila, Philippines.

Dr Havilah has written, edited, and contributed to numerous additional works, including, Altogether Lovely: A Thematic and Intertextual Reading of the Song of Songs (Minneapolis, Minn: Fortress, 2018); Challenging Tradition: Innovation in Advanced Theological Education (Perry Shaw and Havilah Dharamraj, eds., Carlisle, UK: Langham Global Library, 2018; contributed: “Boldly Go! Tracking Trends in Comparative Literature” and “Telling Tales: Stories that Embox Theology”); South Asia Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan, 2015; OT editor; contributed articles, “Introduction to the Old Testament,” “Introduction to the Historical Books,” and “Introduction to Hebrew Poetry”; contributed the books: Judges, 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles); and A Prophet Like Elijah? A Narrative-Theological Reading of the Elijah Cycle (Paternoster Biblical Monographs Series; UK: Paternoster, 2011).

Selected articles written by Dr Havilah include, “Green-Eyed Lovers: A Study of Jealousy in Song of Songs 8:5-7” (Priscilla Papers, 32.1, 2018); “We Reap What We Sow: Engaging Curriculum and Context in Theological Education” (Evangelical Review of Theology, 38/4, 2014); and “The Idea of the Idyll: Why it may not Work for the Song of Songs” (Expository Times, 124/9, 2013).

Dr Havilah is married to Pandu Dharamraj. They have two married children and a grandson.

Education

PhD in Old Testament, University of Durham, UK
MA in Christian Studies, SAIACS, Bangalore, India
MSc in Biochemistry, University of Bangalore, India

Dr Arun is a professor of Hinduism and Head of the Department of Inter Cultural and Religious Studies . He is also the Convenor of SAIACS’ MA (TS) and PhD (Theology) programmes under the University of Mysore Prior to joining SAIACS, Dr Arun served with Indian Evangelical Mission (IEM), a cross-cultural mission work in India and abroad….
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He worked for nine years visiting various mission stations and helping with building projects the missionaries were working on for the nurturing of new believers in faith. After four years with IEM, Dr Arun and his wife, Sonia, were married and based at Outreach Training Institute (OTI) located in a rural setting in Tamil Nadu, bordering Bangalore. Sonia, who has her master’s in psychology and education, helped with missionary training activities for OTI. Both were also involved in leading short-term mission trips to villages around the institute. In 1995, both Dr Arun and his wife had the opportunity to study at SAIACS. They finished their MA studies in Pastoral Theology and Counselling in 1997. Subsequently, IEM and SAIACS entered into a partnership on the basis that they would be trained further and could help both IEM and SAIACS. Dr Arun continues to teach at OTI during some of their missionary training programmes.

Currently, Dr Arun serves as Catalyst for Hinduism of the Lausanne Movement. He is also a contextual editor for India commentary on the New Testament published by Primalogue.

Dr Arun has authored numerous articles, including, “Poverty and the Poor in the Hindu, Jain and Sikh Religions of India” (Poverty and the Poor in the World’s Religious Traditions, Publisher: abc.clio, January 2019); “Christian Bhakti” (South Asia Bible Commentary, Zondervan, 2015); “Religious art and Symbolism” (South Asia Bible Commentary, Zondervan, 2015); “The Cognitive models among Hindus at popular level and Christian approaches” (Journal of India Missions Association, 2015); “Karma and Fatalism” (South Asia Bible Commentary, Zondervan, 2015); and “The Cognitive models among Hindus at popular level and Christian approaches” (Journal of India Missions Association, 2015).

Dr Arun and Sonia attend Church of South India, Kothanur, Bangalore.

Areas of Focus

- Religions, especially Hinduism
- Languages, especially Sanskrit and Arabic
- Qualitative Research, especially Ethnographic Research
- Social Anthropology
- Missions
- Pastoral Theology and Counselling
- Geographical Area: South Asia, especially India
Education
- BE in Civil Engineering, University of Bangalore
- MA in Pastoral Theology and Counselling, SAIACS
- PhD, University of Leeds

Rev Dr Varghese Thomas is a professor and the Head of the Department of Pastoral Theology and Counselling at SAIACS. He joined SAIACS in August 2018. Prior to this, he served as the teaching pastor of New Calvary Church, Chennai, and as faculty at Hindustan Bible Institute and College for more than twenty years. Before joining SAIACS…

Dr Roji George is a New Testament professor and Dean of Students. He is the Specialization Advisor for New Testament under Biblical Studies Department. Prior to joining the SAIACS faculty, Dr Roji served as Assistant Professor of the New Testament at Luther W. New Jr. Theological College, Dehradun (2005-2016)….

Dr E.D. Solomon joined SAIACS in June 2016. He is a professor of missiology and the Specilization Advisor for Missiology under Inter Cultural and Religious Studies.
Dr Solomon has written for a number of national and international journals and books. His PhD thesis is published by the ISPCK (2012), titled, Change and continuity: Influences on Self-Identity of Christian Dalits of Madiri Puram Village in South India (1915-2005), and was used as a textbook at Harvard Divinity School….

Dr Solomon has written for a number of national and international journals and books. His PhD thesis is published by the ISPCK (2012), titled, Change and continuity: Influences on Self-Identity of Christian Dalits of Madiri Puram Village in South India (1915-2005), and was used as a textbook at Harvard Divinity School. His essay “Jesus’ Inaugural Sermon: Clues to a Theology of Mission in the Gospels” in Victor Wiens’ (ed.) The Church in Mission-Perspectives of Global Mennonite Brethren on Mission in the 21st century (Winnipeg: MB Kindred Productions, 2015; 37-50) was appreciated by global Mennonite missiologists. He has also published “Empowering people for God’s mission” in the National Council of Churches Review (Vol. CXXXII, March 2012/2: 104-111). International forums like Direction have published his article, “Vital leadership for Andhra Pradesh” (2001, Vol.30/No.2: 153-161).

Dr Solomon co-authored a book in Telugu and has contributed many essays. He edited three books in Telugu and has translated two standard works into Telugu. His Krotta Nirnayalu (New Resolutions, 2012) is a collection of his writings over a quarter century addressing the issues of renewing the church. His most-known translation, Matamarpidane chikkumudi (1999), is a translation of Confusion Called Conversion (1994) by Ebenezer Sunderaraj, published by Operation Mobilization, Secunderabad. His forthcoming translation, Mriduvyna Javabu, of The Gentle Answer to the Muslim Accusation of Biblical Falsification (2015), a book by Gordon Nickel, is likely to be published by SAIACS Press.

Dr Solomon received the “Christian Ministry Award” from Union Biblical Seminary (Pune, 1985) with a bronze plaque. He has also received the “Merit Certificate in General Proficiency” in Journalism and Mass Communication (Vellore, 1989).

As an ordained minister of the Mennonite Brethren Church of India, Dr Solomon has served as pastor, Associate Director of Christian Education, Interim Executive Secretary of the MB Board of Evangelism and Church Ministries, and as an editor of Suvartamani, the monthly journal of his conference, for twelve years. His responsibilities also included regional and global church leadership, such as field chairman and secretary to the Maktal-Narayanpet region of Telangana. On the global level, he served for a term as a member on GSF-ICOMB (International Community of Mennonite Brethren).

Dr Solomon and his wife, Premaleela, are blessed with two married daughters and four grandchildren.

Areas of Focus

- Biblical Theology of Missions
- Social Issues in Rural Church of India
- Contextualization in Cross cultures
- Mission and Ministry of Paul
Education
- PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, (TIU), Illinois
- MTh (NT), Senate of Serampore College, India
- BD, Senate of Serampore College, India
- PG Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication, ISSR-India

Dr Prabhu Singh, Principal of South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies (SAIACS) and Professor of Anthropology and Missions, was born and brought up in the southernmost part of India, in the state of Tamil Nadu. At the age of 19, he surrendered his life to Christ and at 22, joined Christian ministry. For nearly 25 years, he has served God in various capacities and with different ministries like Evangelical Union (Student Ministry) and Ambassadors for Christ (Itinerant Preaching Evangelist)….

Dr Uday Balasundaram joined SAIACS in 2018 as a professor of Intercultural Studies with a special focus on integrating the creative arts, theology, and mission. His doctoral research focused on exploring the process of musical creativity among “indigenous cosmopolitan musicians” for mission, wherein he introduces the concept of creatio Dei as a way for theologising through the arts…

Dr Ernest Clark is Classics Consultant in the Department of New Testament. He joined the SAIACS faculty in 2016. Dr Clark teaches MDiv modules on Greek translation and exegesis, and MTh modules on Historical Contexts of the New Testament, Textual Criticism, and Research Methods. He has developed several modules for SAIACS’s online MA programmes….

Dr Varughese John is a professor of theology and has served on SAIACS’ faculty since 2011. He served as Dean of Students from 2012-17 and also as the chair of the publication committee from 2014-18. Currently he serves as the HoD of Theology and History Department…

Dr Chongpongmeren (Meren Jamir) has been teaching at SAIACS since 2013. He is the Specialization Advisor for History under Theology and History Department. He earlier served with the Union of Evangelical Students of India (UESI) for three years…

Dr Yesan Sellan has been serving as Chief Librarian of SAIACS since 2004. Prior to joining SAIACS, he was librarian at Serampore College. He has more than twenty years of experience as a theological librarian. He is responsible for library information services of SAIACS and is coordinator for the Centre for South Asia Research (CSAR)…

which endeavours to produce indigenous scholarly publications. He successfully completed his PhD in Library and Information Science. Dr. Yesan is the first theological librarian in South Asia with a doctorate.

He has been instrumental in developing the Certificate in Theological Librarianship programme at SAIACS since 2012. He also helped in obtaining researcher awards from the Association of Christian Librarians (ACL) for three SAIACS students. Additionally, he was involved in forming the Campus Life Committee during his four-year tenure as Dean of Students.

He also has been involved in the development of the theological librarians movement in India and he collaborates with global north librarians in India. He has conducted workshops and seminars for theological librarians in South Asia, along with a three-week training and workshop for Nepal theological librarians. In recognition of his contribution to theological librarians in Asia, he was recognised by the ACL as Member of the Month in November 2016.

Formerly, he served as Secretary of Forum of Asian Theological Librarians (ForATL); as Convener of the Joint Library Committee, for which he produced the Union Catalogue, which holds over a quarter million bibliographic records; and as Executive Secretary to the Indian Theological Library Association (ITLA). He also has been a partner liaison of the ACL, as well as a member of the International Theological Librarianship Education Task Force (ITLE) of American Theological Library Association (ATLA), and of DABOH—International Association for Missions Studies (IAMS).

He has published numerous articles, the most recent of which include, “Awareness and Use of Social Media and Cloud Computing Technology among Faculty Members in Theological Institutions in South India” (co-authored with S.A. Sornam, KIIT Journal of Library and Information Management, 2019, 6(1), 36-44); and “Information search strategies among theological faculty members in Tamil Nadu” (co-authored with S.A. Sornam, The Christian Librarian, 2018a, 61(1), 51–67).

Areas of Focus
- Library Services and Administration
- Library Automation and Networking
- Design and Development of Theological Librarianship Course
- Digital Library Development
- Research Assistance
- Information Literacy
Education
- BCom, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli
- MLISc, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli
- PG Diploma in Library Automation and Networking (PGDLAN), University of Hyderabad
- BCS, Senate of Serampore College, Serampore
- PhD (candidate), Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli

An accountant by profession, Rev Dr G. John Daniel serves as an Academic Dean from April 2020, also serves as a professor of missions at SAIACS. He committed his life to full-time ministry in 1989, when he began working as an evangelist with children in slums and villages. After completing his MDiv in 1993 and planting an English church in Trichy…

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